From Darkness (Hearts & Arrows Book 3)(6)

Jon closed the door to his Wrangler and made his way across the parking lot to the entrance of The Grand Duke, a dirty dive bar where he hoped he’d find the bail-jumper he was after. He’d gotten the call only a few minutes before, but he knew Chester’s habits well enough. The Duke was one of Chester’s favorite haunts, and it happened to be the closest when Jon had gotten the call to pick the flasher up.

He pulled The Duke’s door open, and the sad, haggard faces of the men at the bar turned to the light. Jon stepped in and shook the rain off his jacket as he scanned the room for the face he was looking for without luck.

A heavyset, middle-aged woman gave him a halfhearted smile. Her hair was an electric shade of color that fell somewhere between red and orange, and her eye shadow was a similar density of blue.

“What can I get for you, honey?”

He glanced at the door, his gut telling him to wait a few before he took off to check the next spot. The clock on the wall read eleven.

It’s five o’clock somewhere.

“What do you have in bottles?”

“Plenty.”

“How about Sam Adams?”

She glanced down at the bin in front of her. “Don’t have it.”

“Okay, how about Heineken?”

“Nope.”

He leaned over the bar and looked in the ice bin of beers where he found Bud Light, Budweiser, and Miller.

Lite.

“Well, that certainly is a mighty wide selection you have there.”

“We do what we can, sweetie.”

The door to the bar swung open, and their faces turned to where Chester staggered in the doorway, dirty and wrinkled, his gray beard gnarled and cheeks red.

Jon’s lips pulled into a lazy smile. “Well, how about that? Looks like you have what I was lookin’ for after all.”

Chester’s eyes passed over the room, landed on Jon, and flew open. He turned and ran, and the door slowly closed on its own behind him.

Jon shook his head. “They always do that, though I can’t figure out why.” He turned to the bartender. “Thanks anyway, ma’am.” He tipped an imaginary hat and took off after Chester.



Josie parked in The Duke’s lot with her nerves tingling. Chester was there; she could feel it on her skin, and her eyes scanned the parking lot. As soon as she stepped out of her car, he stumbled around the side of the building and shuffled toward the entrance. She froze, hoping she could wait for him to get inside where he couldn’t run, and she stayed just where she was until he pulled the door open and walked in.

She hadn’t made it five steps before the door burst open again, and Chester bolted around the building, toward the alley behind the bar.

Josie smiled as she took off after him. Gotcha.

That alley was a dead end.

Her boots slapped the wet pavement as she made it to the mouth of the alley. Chester had come to a stop at the end.

He turned and faced her. “Well, hello there, Miss Josie. Fancy meeting you here.” His words were slow and drawn out, and he listed a little, swerving as he tried to stay upright.

“Hey, Chester,” she said genially, though her body was tense and ready to move. “We gonna do this the easy way or the hard way?”

A deep voice with a Southern drawl said from behind her, “Oh, I don’t know about you, Chester, but I always find that the hard way’s a little more fun.”

Josie turned and looked up, and when their eyes met, her heart shot into her throat.

Jon’s hair was damp and flipping at the ends from the rain, his leather jacket dotted with condensation. His eyes were so blue, so bright, and she blinked, breaking the contact.

How he always did that to her, she’d never understand.

She put all her energy behind the anger bubbling up in her instead of his crooked smile as he looked down at her.

“What are you doing here, Jon?” she asked flatly.

He shrugged with a casual grace so gorgeous, it should be criminal. “I got a call a minute ago from Jerry J’s to pick up Chester, and I was in the neighborhood. Figured I’d stop by The Duke.”

She huffed. “How is that possible? They’re only supposed to call one PI.” Her eyes narrowed. “Wait, did you set this up?”

That stupid smirk of his stretched higher on one side. “Don’t flatter yourself, honey.”

“Don’t call me honey, asshole,” she shot. “They called me hours ago, and I was here first.”

“I hate to break it to you, but I was here first. I was inside when Chester here came ambling in.” Jon’s slow smile never left his jerk face. His stupid, hot jerk face.

She scowled. Bastard.

“Hey now, Jo, no need to get mad.”

“I’m not mad.” She was well past mad and edging into blind fury.

Jon’s eyes moved behind her, and his smile stretched wide. He leaned forward, mouth angling for her ear, and dropped his voice. “Don’t look now, but I think Chester’s got a little something for you.”

Josie turned and rolled her eyes when she saw Chester swinging his naked dick at her. “Jesus Christ, Chester. Put that thing away.”

She trotted over to the old man, giving him a wide berth as she made her way behind him, cuffs in hand. Jon covered her from the front, getting the full assault, to ensure that Chester wouldn’t make a break for it. Not like he would get very far with his pants around his ankles.